Starting a business with black garlic, a 9X guy creates a sustainable livelihood for people in the highlands

TPO - From fresh garlic bulbs that were thought to be only for drying and retailing, young man Nguyen Van Tuan (born in 1994) has created high-quality black garlic products, successfully establishing the Youth Cooperative 26-03 in Sub-area 4, Yen Chau town, Yen Chau district, Son La province. Not only creating a career for himself, he also contributes to developing sustainable livelihoods for the highland community.

Persist, never give up

In 2016, when he was in his 20s full of enthusiasm, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan began to learn about black garlic products, a popular food for its nutritional and medicinal value.

He spent time reading foreign research documents, especially Japanese publications on garlic fermentation technology. Without the financial means to invest in modern machinery, Tuan chose to explore and create black garlic making equipment at home from available materials.

Starting with batches of garlic of only a few kilos, the capacity gradually increased to 100kg, 500kg, and now 1,000kg per batch. Along with those increasing numbers were many failures.

Many batches of garlic had to be discarded because they did not meet standards and did not taste good. At times, he had to borrow money to continue importing raw materials, just with the desire to make quality products, easy to eat, suitable for Vietnamese people.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan started his business with black garlic, successfully building the 26-03 Youth Cooperative in Sub-zone 4, Yen Chau town, Yen Chau district, Son La province.

Thanks to his perseverance, the quality of his black garlic products has gradually stabilized. Not only stopping at production, he has established the 26-3 Youth Cooperative, which focuses on producing clean, safe agricultural products from local materials such as black garlic, male papaya flowers, herbal tea... with a factory scale of more than 5,000m², using modern technological lines, ensuring hygiene and consistent output quality.

Up to now, the cooperative has achieved 4-star OCOP certification, its products are available in major supermarket systems such as Dabaco, Winmart, Vincom, retail stores in the province, and tourist destinations across the country.

Not only creating branded products, the cooperative also brings in billions of VND in revenue per year, creating stable jobs for nearly 20 local workers. This is a very meaningful number in the context of Yen Chau still being a mountainous district with many communes facing difficulties.

Not only creating branded products, the cooperative also brings in billions of VND in revenue per year, creating stable jobs for nearly 20 local workers.

Realizing the dream of poverty reduction in the highlands

Not only stopping at creating good products, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan also cherishes a greater aspiration, which is to contribute to changing the livelihoods of people in the highlands in a sustainable way.

In the past, Yen Chau people grew garlic and dried it to sell retail. Prices were unstable and income was not stable. In years when the harvest was good, traders would lower the price, and in years when the harvest was bad, no one would buy.

Understanding that, Tuoi Tre 26-03 Cooperative has signed a contract with farmers to purchase products, provide technical support, guide clean farming, ensure stable output, reasonable purchase price, and help people feel secure in production.

Since then, Tuan's model has not only created economic value, but also raised people's awareness in producing high-quality agricultural products, opening up a new direction for mountainous agriculture associated with the modern market.

Not only does he operate production well, Tuan also pays special attention to communication and digital transformation. He is promoting the introduction of products to social networking platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and e-commerce platforms, in order to expand the consumer market, while spreading the inspiring startup story of the cooperative to the community.

From the first risky batches of black garlic, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan has built a new type of agricultural cooperative in the mountainous region, producing clean products and creating livelihoods for dozens of households. He is starting a journey to multiply the trust and hope of young people who dare to think big and live responsibly for their homeland.

He always believes: "Youth is the stage where you can accept failures to rise up. As long as you dare to think, dare to do and truly attach yourself to your hometown products, you will definitely achieve results."

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan is one of 43 outstanding young people nationwide to receive the Luong Dinh Cua Award in 2023.

His efforts have been recognized with many awards: He is one of 43 outstanding young people nationwide to be awarded the Luong Dinh Cua Award in 2023; Certificate of Merit from the Chairman of the People's Committee of Son La province for his high achievements at the 2022 Innovation and Startup Talent Search Competition; Certificate of Merit "Advanced Youth Following Uncle Ho's Teachings" in 2022 - Certificate of Merit from the Executive Committee of the Son La Provincial Youth Union for his achievements at the 2021 Youth Union Startup Project Competition.

Dieu Nhi

Source: https://tienphong.vn/khoi-nghiep-tu-toi-den-chang-trai-9x-tao-sinh-ke-ben-vung-cho-ba-con-vung-cao-post1746523.tpo